Ear tag for marking animals with organic substance sampling system

ABSTRACT

An ear tag for marking animals includes a female portion consisting of a female head optionally borne by or formed in a first panel, a male portion consisting of a male punch optionally borne by or formed in a second panel, identifying means being borne by at least one of the male or female portions. The male punch is configured in two separable elements, one of which is housed in the female head and the other forms an organic matter sampling device during the passage of the male punch through the ear of an animal, which is moveable in an axial channel thereof and is withdrawn through the panel of the male portion after fastening the tag onto the animal&#39;s ear.

BACKGROUND OF THIS INVENTION

Ear tags generally comprise a wall with a female head and a wall with amale punch, said walls carrying identifying information. As they areaffixed, by means of pliers, the male punch pierces the animal's ear andis housed in the female head where it is secured so that it cannot beseparated from the female head. Necessary rigidity is provided by thepin of the pliers, which is housed in the hollow shaft of the punch.This punch is generally closed.

Generally, the female heads providing the best guarantee ofinviolability for the completed assembly, and thus the inviolability ofthe marking achieved, are closed heads.

Closed heads have only one orifice, that through which the punch passes.This is secured in position, by known means, with a radial collar behindits pointed end, distal in relation to the tag of which it forms anon-distinct part.

The collar of the punch is locked into the female head, which isprovided with ribs, teeth or other means that do not prevent thepenetration of the punch but do prevent its withdrawal.

In a particular embodiment of the ear tag, the closed female head ismade of a synthetic material, duplicate moulded on the wall and having aShore hardness such that is difficult to pierce or cut it to perform anyprocedure on the end of the punch intended to remove it from the head.

At present, the ear tags that are most often used are tags with a closedhead.

Tags with an open head are also available on the market, said tags eachdisplay an orifice through which the nose of the punch, with its collar,penetrates into an open tubular receptacle, that is to say having anorifice at its free end.

The use of ear tags for marking animals is a widespread practice in alllivestock-breeding countries to ensure the tracking of bred animalsdestined for human consumption.

These markings and the data relating to the animal are generallycentralised in computerised data banks that can be accessed for updatingor information retrieval by all concerned: breeders, fatteners,veterinary services etc . . . right down to the distribution networks.

The pursuit of maximum security in the identification of the animalleads to the sampling of organic matter, which may be stored with a viewto DNA analysis.

Patent WO 99 61 882 attempts a solution to this effect, and proposes adevice and a procedure intended to enable a sample of organic tissue tobe taken. This patent describes a receptacle for the sample and asampling tool in the form of a cutting die that locks into thereceptacle with the sampled organic matter.

The receptacle and the punch may be combined with an ear tag and carrythe same markings.

Although it is indicated in this patent that it is possible toaccomplish the sampling at the same time as affixing the ear tag, notechnical information is provided to this effect, and it is not evidentthat this is possible at one and the same time.

In any case, since the sampling tool must necessarily be borne by thepunch on one jaw of the ear-tagging pliers and the receptacle by theother jaw of the pliers, this is only feasible for tags with open headsthat are capable of being traversed by the punch holder on the pliersand the sampling tool.

It is known that this type of tag is not very secure and is thereforelittle used.

Patent DE 197 40 429 describes a procedure and device similar to thepreceding one, which is also limited to the use of an open-headed tag.

Patent EP 1 060 662 describes an ear tag of the abovementioned typewherein the male punch has at its end a circular cutting means which isdetachable from the punch and is housed in a capsule borne in aperforation emerging at the back of the female head.

The device according to this patent is not applicable to ear tags with aclosed head.

Furthermore, the substantial diameter of the cutting element makes thepenetration of the male punch into the ear wall difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to produce an ear tag for markinganimals with a system that takes and retains a sample of organic matterand enables the tag to be affixed and the sampling to be carried out ina single operation. It is possible for said tag to be optionally of theopen- or closed-headed type.

As both the sampling and the marking by affixing the ear tag take placeat the same time, the risk of wrongly allocating a sample is eliminated,all the more so since according to the invention the male punch thatfixes the tag in the female head is directly involved in the samplingprocedure.

To this end, the ear tag for marking animals according to the invention,comprising a female portion consisting of a female head optionally borneby or formed in a first panel, a male portion consisting of a male punchoptionally borne by or formed in a second panel, identifying means beingborne by one at least of the male or female portions, is characterisedessentially in that the male punch is configured in two separableelements, of which one is locked into the female head and the other is adevice for sampling organic matter as the male punch passes trough theear of an animal and that is capable of moving freely in an axialchannel of the former and is withdrawn through the panel of the maleportion after the tag is affixed to the animal's ear.

In another aspect of the invention:

-   -   the ear tag comprises a part with the female portion and a part        with the male portion; said parts bearing identifying means;    -   the male punch is housed in a secure manner in the female head        after passing through the ear;    -   the male punch is pierced by an axial channel emerging in the        panel and at the end of the punch,    -   the end of the punch forms a cutting die;    -   a removable prick punch passes through the channel in the male        punch;    -   the removable prick punch has a tip for piercing the organic        matter and a means for holding the matter punched out by the        cutting die and pierced by its tip, so that the cutting and the        piercing are carried out as the male punch moves towards the        female head, and after these have been locked together, the        removable prick punch may be extracted from the channel in the        male punch carrying with it the organic matter that has been cut        out.

In yet another aspect of the invention, the end of the male punch isprovided with an end piece pierced through the centre, said end piecehaving a frustoconical exterior and a frustoconical cavity axial to thechannel in the punch, the circular edge 12 of said end piece beingformed by the junction of the two conic frustums defining a ridge 12that forms a cutting die.

In another aspect of the invention, the tip 15 of the removable prickpunch in the channel of the punch has a tip 15 joined to a neckedportion 16 behind said head by a collar 17 orthogonal to the axis of theshaft of the prick punch.

In another aspect of the invention, the tip 15 of the prick punch, whenfully inserted, projects from the ridge 12 of the cutting die end piece.

In another aspect of the invention, the prick punch passing through thepunch, is provided, at the end opposite to the tip, with a mounting part14 for affixing it to one of the jaws of an applicator pliers on theopposite end to the tip.

In another aspect of the invention, the wall of the internal frustum ofthe end piece forms an angle of between 40° and 60°, and preferably 45°,with the transversal axis.

In another aspect of the invention, the ear tag comprises a part withthe female head and a part with the male portion, said parts bearingidentifying means, the male punch being housed in a secure manner in thefemale head after passing through the ear, characterised essentially inthat:

-   -   the male punch is pierced by an axial channel emerging through        the panel and the punch;    -   the organic matter sampling device, mounted in a manner that        enables it to move freely within the channel of the male punch        and being separable therefrom, comprises a hollow needle at the        end a mounting for fixing of said sampling device on one of the        jaws of an applicator pliers.

In another aspect of the invention, the sampling device has a panel (19)provided with identifying means corresponding to those on the male andfemale portions of the tag.

In another aspect of the invention, at least one of the male or femaleparts presents a panel (1), the identifying means associated with saidportion being borne on said wall.

In another aspect of the invention, the sampling device has on its upperpart means to connect it, whether in a secured manner or not, with areceptacle in which the end of the sampling device and the sample oforganic matter is housed.

In another aspect of the invention, the receptacle in which is housed atleast the end of the sampling device, carries an identifying means.

In another aspect of the invention, the identifying means are visualmeans. These identifying means may thus take the form of an inscriptionin alphabetic or numerical characters, or even a bar code. The variousinscriptions may be identical, or different but related.

In another aspect of the invention, one at least of the identifyingmeans consists of a transponder, comprising electronic identificationmeans, for example in the form of an electronic number, attached to oneof the male or female portions, and/or to the panel (19) and/or to thereceptacle.

The transponder could, for example, be embedded in the body of one ofthe parts of the male or female portions or in the body of the panel(19) or in the body of the receptacle, but the transponder may beattached to the corresponding part of the male or female portions by anyother means, for example by adhesive bonding.

The transponder could be provided with a ROM- or EPROM-type memory intowhich the electronic number could be entered, and an appropriatetransmitting circuit. The information contained in the memory, in thiscase the number and possibly other information of use in the envisagedapplication, are read remotely by an appropriate reading device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other advantages and characteristics of the invention will becomeapparent from the following description of a form of embodiment of theinvention, given as a non-limiting example and illustrated by theattached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view of the open jaws of a pair of ear-tag applicatorpliers;

FIG. 2 is a view of the tag with the male punch according to theinvention, and a prick punch;

FIGS. 3 a to 3 c represent the end piece of the nose of the male punch;

FIG. 4 is a view of the prick punch;

FIG. 5 is a view of the prick punch according to another embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a view of another form of embodiment of the male portion ofthe tag according to the invention;

FIG. 7 is a sectional drawing of FIG. 6 following the line AA.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 represents a partial view of a pair of ear tag applicator pliers.

The ear tag is in two portions:

-   -   one so-called male portion, comprising a first wall or panel 1        bearing identifying information for the animal and a vertical        male punch the nose 3 of which is provided with a shoulder 5,        and    -   a female portion with a second wall or panel 1 a bearing        identical information to the wall of the male portion and a        hollow head 6 that may be either open or closed.

In FIG. 1 the female head 6 is located in a receptacle in the jaw, andthe male portion is attached to the other jaw of the pliers.

The female head 6 comprises known means for locking the male punch inplace.

According to the invention, the male punch is made up of first andsecond separable punch elements 2 and 13, one within the other. Thefirst punch element 2, passes through the ear wall and is housed in thefemale head 6 to firmly fasten the two components of the tag together,and wherein the second punch element 13 is carried along with the firstpunch element 2 to also pass through the ear wall and retain organicmatter. This second punch element is, herein, generically called thesampling device.

As the sampling device 13 is separated from the first punch element 2,which occurs when the first punch element 2 is in the female head 6 ofthe tag, the organic matter is withdrawn with the sampling device 13 andmay thereafter be stored for analysis, for example, to establish the DNAof the animal concerned.

Advantageously, one of the two parts of the punch acts as a cutting diethat cuts out a portion of the organic matter, and the sampling deviceretains the said portion and enables it to be extracted.

Preferably, the part forming the cutting die is that which is secured inthe female head by a known means.

As represented in the drawings, the first punch element 2 is composed ofa cylindro-conical shaft that is pierced by an axial channel, saidchannel emerging at one end of the first punch element 2 at the nose 3,and the sampling device 13 is composed of a prick punch represented in amore detailed manner in FIGS. 4 and 5.

The shoulder 5 of the nose 3 enables the first punch element 2 to besecured in the female head 6 by any known means.

The end of the nose 3 of the first punch element 2 is provided with anend piece 7 (FIG. 2) that is duplicate moulded.

Preferably this end piece 7 is made of metal.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C represent the end piece 7 having a flange 8 embedded inthe material of the first punch element 2, and one externalfrustoconical end.

The end piece 7 is pierced by a central channel 10 that prolongs theinternal channel of the punch axially.

The end piece 7 presents an orifice 11 in the form of a frustoconicalcavity.

The frustoconical wall 9 and the frustoconical wall of orifice 11 areoriented in opposite directions and define a circular ridge 12 or edgeforming a cutting die. The sampling device or prick punch 13 comprises ametal shaft, the so-called upper end of which presents known means 14for mounting same in the relevant jaw of the pliers and the other end ofwhich presents a tip 15.

Between the components 14 and the tip 15, the shaft of the prick punch13 is housed in the axial channel of the first punch element 2, thecomponents 14 projecting from the wall 1 and the tip 15 protruding fromthe end piece 7 or coming level with the ridge 12 of the end piece 7.

Preferably, the shaft of the prick punch 13 presents behind the tip 15 anecked part 16 of smaller diameter than the tip and the upper portion ofthe shaft.

A shoulder 17 behind the tip 15 retains the organic matter through whichthe tip 15 passes.

The tip 15 being of slightly smaller diameter than the axial channel ofthe first punch element 2 and its end piece 7, as the prick punch 13 iswithdrawn the matter lodges itself around the necked part 16 in theaxial channel.

The upper part of the shaft of the prick punch 13 is provided with aconical portion 18 that limits its penetration in the axial channel ofthe first punch element 2, so that as the tag is affixed, the tip 15projects slightly from the ridge 12 of the end piece and the collar 17is able to enter into the organic matter.

In operation, when the first punch element 2 comes into contact with theear wall, the ridge 12 of the end piece 7 cuts a piece out of said earwall while the tip 15 pierces through it and fixes it to the shoulder17.

After the first punch element 2 has penetrated into the female head 6and the pliers have been withdrawn, the user extracts the prick punch 13from the axial channel of punch 2 and can store the prick punch 13 withthe organic matter.

Said storage may take place in a tubular receptacle, with or withoutinternal preserving material, of a diameter corresponding to that of theupper part of the prick punch 13, thus enabling the two to be wedgedtogether.

Any other method and means of securing the receptacle onto the prickpunch 13 may be used, for example a threaded joint with threads on theprick punch 13 and inside the container.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the prick punch 13 that is provided with awall or panel 19 bearing the same, or related, identification details asthe ear tag, located between the prick punch 13 and the components 14for fastening it to the jaw of the pliers.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show another embodiment of the ear tag according to theinvention, in which the first punch element 2, pierced by an axialchannel emerging in the wall 1 and at the end 3 of the first punchelement accommodates an organic matter sampling device that is capableof moving freely in the channel of the first punch element 2 andseparable therefrom, which comprises a hollow needle 20 linked to thefastening means 14 of said sampling device on one of the jaws of theapplicator pliers.

Advantageously, the end of the hollow needle 20 is sharp and protrudes,as shown at 21, from the end 3 of the first punch element 2 so that itpierces the ear wall, and cuts out and retains the organic matter duringthe passage of the first punch element 2 towards the female head 6.

After fastening the male portion into the female portion, the samplingdevice 13 is extracted from the channel of the first punch element 2through the wall 1 of the male portion and in a backward direction inrelation to the end 3 of first punch element 2 locked in the female head6.

It is clear that various adjustments and modifications from equivalenttechnologies may be made to the present invention without therebydeparting from the scope of the present invention as defined in theattached claims.

1. An ear tag for marking animals comprising a female portion includinga female head optionally borne by or formed in a first panel, a maleportion including a male punch optionally borne by or formed in a secondpanel, identifying means being borne by at least one of the male orfemale portions, wherein the male punch is formed by first and secondseparable punch elements, the first punch element has an end, which inuse, becomes housed in the female head to fasten the ear tag onto theear of an animal and the second punch element forms an organic mattersampling device during the passage of the male punch through the ear ofan animal, the second punch element is moveable in an axial channel inthe first punch element and is withdrawn from said axial channel throughthe second panel of the male portion after fastening the tag onto theanimal's ear.
 2. An ear tag for marking animals according to claim 1,wherein; the axial channel extends through the second panel and thefirst punch element; said end of the first punch element forms a cuttingdie; the second punch element is a removable prick punch engaged throughthe axial channel in the male punch; the removable prick punch has a tipfor piercing the organic matter and a means for holding matter punchedout by the cutting die and pierced by said tip, so that cutting andpiercing are carried out as the male punch moves towards the femalehead, and after the first punch element and female head have lockedtogether, the removable prick punch may be extracted from the axialchannel carrying with it the organic matter that has been cut out.
 3. Anear tag according to claim 2 wherein the end of the first punch elementis provided with an end piece pierced with a bore therethrough, said endpiece having a frustoconical exterior and a frustoconical cavity axialto the axial channel, the circular edge of said end piece being formedby a junction of the two conic frustums thereby defining a ridge thatforms the cutting die.
 4. An ear tag according to claim 3 wherein thetip of the prick punch, when fully inserted in the first punch element,projects from the ridge of the end piece.
 5. An ear tag according toclaim 3 wherein a wall of the frustoconical cavity of the end pieceforms an angle of between 40° and 60° with a longitudinal axis of theprick punch.
 6. An ear tag according to claim 2 wherein the tip of theremovable prick punch in the axial channel has a tip joined to a neckedportion behind said head by a shoulder orthogonal to a longitudinal axisof the prick punch shaft.
 7. An ear tag according to claim 2 wherein theprick punch is provided, at an end thereof which is opposite to the tip,with a mounting part for affixing the prick punch to a jaw of anapplicator pliers.
 8. An ear tag according to claim 1 comprising a partwith the female portion and a part with the male portion, said partsbearing identifying means wherein: the axial channel extends emergingthrough the second panel and the first punch element; the organic mattersampling device, mounted in a manner that enables it to move freelywithin the channel of the male punch and being separable therefrom,comprises a hollow needle at one end a mounting for fixing of saidsampling device on a jaw of an applicator pliers.
 9. An ear tagaccording to claim 8 wherein the end of the hollow needle is sharp andprotrudes from the end of the first punch element so that it can piercethe ear wall and cut out the organic matter during the passage of themale punch towards the female head, and after the first punch elementand female head have been locked together, the sampling device isextracted from the axial channel carrying with it the organic matter.10. An ear tag according to claim 8 wherein at least one of the parts ofthe male or female portions is a panel, the identifying means associatedwith said portion being borne on said panel.
 11. An ear tag according toclaim 2 or 8 wherein the identifying means are visual means.
 12. An eartag according to claim 2 or 8 wherein at least one of the identifyingmeans includes a transponder, with an electronic number, the transponderbeing attached to one of the male or female portions and/or to one ofthe first and second panels.
 13. An ear tag according to claim 1 whereinthe sampling device has a panel provided with identifying meanscorresponding to those on the male and female portions of the tag. 14.An ear tag according to claim 1 wherein the sampling device has on itsupper part means to connect it, whether in a secured manner or not, witha receptacle in which at least the end of the sampling device and thesample of organic matter is housed.
 15. An ear tag according to claim 14wherein the receptacle carries an identifying means.
 16. An ear tagaccording to claim 15 wherein the identifying means comprises atransponder, with an electronic number, is attached to the receptacle.